In May 1967, John Coltrane ordered a custom-made Lyon and Healy concert harp, as a surprise for his wife Alice. Sadly, John didn't live to see it delivered, as he died of liver cancer at the age of 40 on July 17, 1967.
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| Alice's harp, restored to peak-performance condition by Lyon and Healy in 2024 |
A few months into her
grieving process, the concert harp arrived at her
doorstep, and Alice took it as a message from beyond. She dedicated herself to the harp and to deepening her spiritual
practice.
'Journey in Satchidananda' is a fusion of modal jazz; it's earthy, bluesy, steeped in musical mantra, utterly captivating, and yet surprisingly accessible throughout, it's one of the most remarkable records of the era. John's Coltrane's influence looms large over this music, and Alice wouldn't have had it any other way.
Alice was ahead of her time, one of the first to move outside the mainstream, and certainly one of the first female, Black American jazz musicians to record her own music in her own studio, and to release music on her own terms.
The freeload is a 24-Bit 176.4kHz vinyl rip from my pristine copy of the 2023 reissue from the Impulse - Acoustic Sounds Series.
For the freeload, tell us about a journey you are planning to make, or a favorite past journey.
Journey in Satchidananda is a great album, good choice Babs!
ReplyDeleteProbably 15 October I'll be setting off for another cycling trip with 2 old (ancient in fact) friends along the mighty Mekong River for a week or so. No speeding, just cycling at a leisure pace with plenty of stops for photos, drinks & more, average 50 - 80 km a day. We'll meet in Nakhon Phanom, so might even try to meet old Farq there!
You'll like this release, Koen.
DeleteWhen my wife & I retired almost 15 yrs ago (!) our 5 year plan was to take a 3 month trip in the van annually: explore for a month, stay somewhere for a month, and mosey back to Canada for the last, wait for it: month. Our "stay" month was in a tiny town in AZ close to the southern border, within a week my dearest was looking at property, so there went the plan. But the 2 months we managed to wander that year throughout the southwest was definitely a travel highlight.
ReplyDeleteNext week, Bilboa for 5 days. Next summer, Canary Islands for a month.
ReplyDeleteLong ago a friend and I decided to go by train from Los Angeles to Alameda (Bay Area) over Thanksgiving. We made a batch of brownies so we didn't have to smoke on the train. One ounce to a box of brownie mix. The train got crowded then emptied out as we went along. When we got to the Oakland/Alameda stop we found they had locked all the exits in the forward section. We were running toward the back to get off the train when it started moving again. We road to the end of the line at Daily City then back down to Alameda station. By that time the BART had stopped running so we called for a Taxi. It was way late when we got to our destination. Couple days later we met up with some other friends, with a car, in Santa Cruz. We all headed south, stopping for too long at Big Sur. About a week after getting home I was going to meet up again with my friend and he got the rest of the brownies and hid them outside his parents house. Before I got there his dog found the brownie stash and ate them all. About half the batch. He later told me his dog slept for two days.
ReplyDeleteI would love to (& hope I get the chance soon) to make a trip back to Santa Fe. I'd like to leave some of my wife's remains there, up in the mountains close to the source of the Big Tesuque, (per her wishes) a spot she always loved and in fact mentioned early on, during a Mother's day picnic in the 80's. Thanks Babs
ReplyDeleteI've been in touch with an old roommate that still lives in Santa Fe & I'll be heading her direction this week. It came together quickly & I'm so looking forward to it. Nancy sounded pretty excited about it too. Thanks Babs. Be Well
DeleteIn 1996, having sold our business and feeling footloose and fancy free, we bought what were called "onward" round the world tickets for our family, including our two teenage kids, who we pulled out of school for the six-month journey. Starting in Southeast Asia with a bag full of Lonely Planet guides, we made our way westward with no strict itinerary, hanging in the places that seemed to have a story to tell. Traveling as a family on the cheap, using public transport proved to be a wonderful way to get invited into locals' homes. Along the way we attended a couple of weddings as well as cremation, circumcision, and teeth-filing ceremonies, and in Istanbul, thanks to an invite from blues harp maestro Charlie Musselwhite (a long story), we witnessed a Sufi ecstatic dance entirely unlike the touristic versions put on for package tours. It was an unforgettable journey and both our kids have since become avid travelers, living and working overseas.
ReplyDeleteI went to the grocery store yesterday.
ReplyDeleteYou devil, you.
DeleteIn August 1969, my husband (then boyfriend) drove from Hermosa Beach in California to Boston, Massachusetts.
ReplyDeleteIn Spring 2025, I'm going to the UK for a week, and Corsica for two weeks.
Link
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/NbXrDM9eH72
Wow! I was given this record as a birthday gift when I turned 18 in 1972, which proceeded to expand my mind and delve deep into her emerging catalog.
ReplyDeleteThe following year I went on a road trip (never thought of it as a journey at the time, but decades later have come to see it as such) with a friend, starting in the San Francisco Bay Area to points north, ending in Vancouver BC. On our return, we got busted by US Border agents who searched our car (not an unusual thing for 19 year old long hairs) and found pot in my friend's car ash tray. I had no idea it was there, since we didn't smoke in the car but it had apparently been there for some time. Needless to say, that complicated our return. We ultimately did resume our trip back and chose to drive Highway One from Oregon to California. In the wee hours we found ourselves in the dark redwood forests of Humboldt County in thick fog on LSD (the Border agents didn't find that!) while listening to Alice Coltrane's "World Galaxy" on a damaged cassette that had tape speed issues. It was pretty fucking psychedelic. If you aren't familiar with that recording, I highly recommend it. In fact it's my favorite recording of hers.
Unfortunately, two years later my friend inherited a bunch of money when he turned 21 and fried his brain on a months-long drug bender that ended with him flying all over the country in search of Mick Jagger, ultimately getting arrested at O'Hare airport and locked up.
Given I'm waiting for a hip replacement operation (on the NHS it could take forever but hopefully in the next year) and can barely walk 50 yards there are no travel plans on the horizon, not even to the grocery store although when I am feeling sufficiently frisky I do still occasionally accompany the wife on her supermarket missions so I'm going to have to talk about prior adventures and I suppose there are 2 which standout for me. The first travelling by car from Sydney to Adelaide via Melbourne along the southern Australian coast and the second doing the hostel backpacking thing around Europe by train starting in Paris and then heading south to Barcelona then back into Southern France along the Cote D'Azure to Nice and Monaco and then into Italy the down the west coast of Italy taking in Italian Riviera, Rome, Florence and Venice then from there onto Prague, Vienna, Hamburg (had to visit the Star Club), Berlin and ending up in Amsterdam. Of the two, which both took 6 weeks, the first was the more relaxing and second the more engaging if exhausting. Trekking around 13 cities in 6 weeks was an unbelievable experience but really pushed it to the limit. I needed another holiday when I got home and I was happy to get home. There are cities from that trip I'd like to return to but it was only ever a one off experience. Not the case with Australia, which was so different yet so familiar in so many ways and I was sad to leave and frankly even with the issues they have out there these days I'd happily swap the UK for Australia tomorrow.
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